Meet golfers Caleb and Kathryn VanArragon, Blaine siblings building on that championship summer

This time last year, Blaine's Caleb VanArragon became the first man in 25 years to win the Minnesota State Open and MGA State Amateur in the same summer, and by 21 strokes combined.

Little sister Kathryn then did just what she'd done since she first lifted a plastic golf club at age 2 — she followed right behind her big brother.

She won the Minnesota Women's State Open and MGA Women's Amateur soon thereafter, making them the only brother and sister in state history to sweep the tournaments in the same summer. His two victories earned Caleb a spot last summer in the PGA Tour's 3M Open played five miles from the family home.

"It was a lot more than we expected, that's for sure," Caleb said. "It was completely out of nowhere. It was really cool."

Kathryn won the two tournaments — including the Am for the second time in five years — by a combined five shots. She and Caleb were the first siblings to win their Minnesota Ams in the same year since Nancy and John Harris in 1989.

"I just remember … a lot going on, one thing after another," said Kathryn, who started her freshman year at St. Thomas weeks later. "All of it is going to be hard to repeat, I'll tell you that much."

Newly turned professional in May, Caleb nearly kept his family's improbable streak going last week. He came from behind and reached a three-man playoff against two amateurs in the Minnesota State Open at Rush Creek Golf Club. He finished runner-up to Wayzata Country Club and New Mexico golfer Carson Herron's two clutch putts in the two-hole playoff.

The summer of 2023

Caleb hadn't won in 18 months when a balky putter came alive in the State Open at Oak Ridge Country Club in Hopkins last July. He won that tournament by nine shots, the State Am by 12 the next week.

"I came into the summer with pretty low expectations, which honestly is a good thing," Caleb said. "Not expecting much is better than going in expecting to win the thing."

Caleb called last week's $13,500 check for posting the low score among the 54-hole tournament field's pros "some consolation." He earned $5,000 for winning his first pro event in May, five days after he played his final collegiate tournament at Valparaiso in Indiana.

He has finished fifth twice, second once in four Dakotas Tour events and has earned more than $25,000 overall in tournaments with $800 entry fees since he turned pro.

When asked if dad Ray or mom Janel gets a cut, their father said, "We're very proud of him, but that money is his."

Until now, pro-shop merchandise was the common currency awarded to brother and sister for high finishes in their many amateur tournaments. Four years younger, Kathryn kept big brother outfitted with new clubs as payment for caddying, and Caleb did the same.

"That's how I financed myself for years if she didn't need any clubs and I did," he said. "We both used plenty of each other's shop credit on golf clubs."

They had grown up playing nearly all their lives — a lot of it out of Bunker Hills — and joined each other in the joy by text or video calls.

"We played together a ton," Caleb said. "She has been golfing since she was 2. I've been golfing since I was 3. She's four years younger. She got into golf because I played. She's better than me."

Where it began

Their father was an All-America runner in college, their mother a swimmer. Neither is more than a casual golfer, and neither can explain such a summer a year ago, other than an early start whacking an oversized plastic ball around. Caleb's grandparents gave him a Little Tikes golf set for his third birthday.

"It was one of those things," Ray said. "He never missed the ball. It was as heavy as him, but he'd just whale away at it and just loved it. He kept going and Kath picked it up because he did it."

The two-time MGA Player of the Year can't defend his State Am title this week at Minnesota Valley Country Club in Bloomington. He already has won once, finished second twice and finished fifth twice since he turned pro. He played his fourth Dakotas Tour event last weekend in Worthington, Minn. — two days after his playoff loss — and finished runner-up there.

"Not playing the State Am, that's really weird because I've played in that since 2016, basically," Caleb said. "That's going to be a bummer watching that."

Caleb hopes to Monday-qualify for the upcoming 3M Open after it made such an impression on him when he played in it last summer.

He called his 3M Open week last year "unbelievable" and "the coolest week of my life, for sure."

"I remember driving in on the Monday and I saw Sahith Theegala just driving a cart," Caleb said. "He was 10 feet away from me and I was like, 'Oh, my goodness, he's playing in the same tournament as me.' It was a whirlwind just figuring out how a PGA tournament works."

He shot 76-70 and missed the cut. Caleb also is hoping he'll receive an exemption to PGA Tour Americas' CRMC Championship at Cragun's in Brainerd on Labor Day weekend.

Kathryn will defend her State Am at Minnewaska Golf Club in Glenwood, Minn., next week and the Minnesota State Open at Edinburgh USA in Brooklyn Park on Aug. 1-2.

"It was a summer neither one of us is going to forget," Caleb said. "But it's not really anything you can deliberately reproduce or anything like that. It's one of those things you just can't explain."